The London Underground
by DQRC
Summary: When a deadly cult imposes its totalitarian regime on the city of London, the Swan family seems like the rebellion's only hope. However even they aren't a match for the full horror that is The Underground... Written to a set of prompts & VERY AU.


**A/N**: This oneshot is actually something I had to write for English Lit at school. We're studying Gothicism in literature and in our first lesson of the topic our teacher got us all to play 'consequences' (Where each person writes down a sentence or two on a piece of paper, folds the paper over so that what they have written cannot be seen, and passes the paper on to the next person) using gothic elements. Our homework was then to try and transform the consequences into a readable page long story.

Once I'd finished, I realised that what I had written would work quite well with Bella as the main character as I subconciously drew parallels with the Twilight series in a couple of places. I did a bit of tweaking and produced this. I'm not going to continue it; it's just for fun.

* * *

No one ever knew exactly who the _London Underground_ were. All they ever heard of them were whispers, rushed in the dead of night in silent streets or mutterings in smoke-filled parlours. Murmurs of strange disappearances, buildings burnt to the ground and bloodless corpses. They were like a poisonous mist on the wind- impossible to capture or destroy, yet an ever-present, deadly threat. Some called them an ancient and lethal religious sect, but others suspected the reality to be even more horrific. However of one thing everyone was certain: the _Underground_ had eyes everywhere. They used a network of ancient labyrinthine passages stretching snake-like deep under the cobbled, smog-filled streets with which to impose their rule. It was a dark, claustrophobic atmosphere where free will was an unknown commodity. Nobody was allowed out of London and precious few dared to enter its boundaries.

However, in the shadow of such oppression a rebellion began to form. Made up of the few Londoners brave (or was it just foolhardy?) enough to challenge the regime, the rebellion was seen as the people's only hope. Their work consisted mainly of smuggling people out of the city and acting as vigilantes on the street.

The founders of the movement were the Swans- a couple with one young daughter.

That is, recently orphaned daughter.

For the Swans' numbers had come up; the _Underground_ had struck again. And even though the rebels were now dead, their murderers were going to stop at nothing in order to get complete revenge.

Which is why, on a cold twilight in December when the last vestiges of the dying year were fading, nine year old Bella Swan found herself being chased through the filthy, frost-strangled streets by a shadowy, bloodthirsty figure. Although she ran as fast as she physically could, she was unable to lose her pursuer. Bella had never been a brilliant runner, and she felt herself growing wearier and wearier by the second. In wild desperation, she veered off rapidly to the left, almost twisting her ankle in the process, and stumbled through a stone archway into a gloomy, deserted alley.

For one blood-freezing second, it seemed as though Bella had come to a dead end. However after a few moments, she spotted a set of steps at the end of the passage leading downwards, as though to a cellar. Bella paused, unsure. Then suddenly there was a peal of unnatural thunder so strong that the ground shook and cracked beneath their feet. The little girl glanced over her shoulder and cried out; the hooded hunter was swooping down the street they had just come down from. With no more time for thought or hesitation, she sprinted down the steps.

Within seconds, Bella was plunged into absolute darkness. The previously unnoticed trapdoor slammed shut behind her, blocking out all light. She pushed against the door, yet it was firmly locked. Her heart pounding, she turned, trying to peer down the steps ahead.

In the distance, she could make out a faint light. Terrified, but with no other alternative, she began to move down towards it. As she got closer, the tunnel began widened out into a cavernous passage.

And then Bella saw them; swathes of dark, anonymous hooded figures standing in circles lit by the flickering torches on the walls. They were all facing one direction; they were all looking at her. Watching. _Waiting. _

As this fact registered in her mind, Bella realised a final, crucial thing- the central piece of the puzzle. She hadn't been chased. She had been _herded_.

She began to scream as outside, the wind started to howl.


End file.
